Angels Fall by Nora Roberts
Angels Fall by Nora Roberts 2007 Jove
[image error]I remember watching the movie starring Heather Locklear and not knowing why she acted so erratically, but the book spends a lot of time in the main character’s mind and that is something that doesn’t easily transmit to a movie.
Reece Gilmore was a chef two years before the story begins and friends at the restaurant she worked at in Boston were giving her a surprise going away party. Two gunmen come in and murder everyone. Reece is shot in the chest and falls into the storage locker where she witnesses her friend, Ginny, being killed. She is the only one who survives the shooting. After medicines, a nervous breakdown, and being ill, she takes off in her car to heal herself by challenging herself to face her fears.
The story begins with car trouble and Reece coasting into Angels Fall, a small town where everyone knows your business. Reece plans to keep traveling, but the diner needs a cook, and she falls into the work like she never left it. The work boosts her confidence, and she stays.
Her boss Joanie is no nonsense and no pity, something she needs. The two romantic interests in the novel are Joanie’s son, Lo, who chases every woman he meets. He tries to bed Reece but she holds him off. Brody is the new guy in town after being there several years. He worked for the Tribune and now writes murder mysteries. He tries to ignore Reece.
Their cute meet is on a hiking trail where Reece passes him to view the falls and Snake River. She sees a couple below on the opposite bank and witnesses the man strangling and killing the woman. She runs into Brody on the path and tells him what has happened. By the time they reach the spot, no one is there.
Roberts sets all of this up very methodically, giving us a little bit of Reece’s traumatic background in pieces by describing her nervousness when taking the job, her feelings of being trapped in her room, and the nightmares she has. She leaves lights on, bathroom doors open, and can’t be in a small space. We don’t know why until 100 pages in.
She reports the crime to Sheriff Richard Mardsen, who can’t find any evidence of the crime. Doc Wallace makes some sketches, and Reece distributes them. Her background surfaces, and everyone thinks she’s crazy. Even forgetting to wear shoes proves she has no sense. She begins to think she is regressing and having a breakdown when her belongings are moved in her room, and a message is written in red marker on her bathroom wall. She doesn’t remember doing it, and the doors are locked.
She knows Brody didn’t murder the woman and turns to him for help. The murder drives a good part of the story but this is a romance and Roberts includes two. Both intersect in the story with the final reveal of the murderer, which makes it satisfying.
This is one of the books to read if you’re writing a psychological thriller. Reece is damaged and fragile but beneath that she is determined to get better. The book references “Gaslight” and “Rear Window” where the hero isn’t believed. Reece knows she’s not crazy but how does she convince everyone else she’s sane with her history and behavior?
Roberts lightens the mood with a bar fight involving Reece and includes recipes in the back of the book.
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